Aoi Saitou
is a character in the Hibike! Euphonium series. She is a third year in the main series who played the tenor saxophone. Appearance Aoi is a teenage girl of below-average height and build, who wears the standard Kitauji High School uniform for female third-year students. She has approximately shoulder-length black hair which fades to dark green, tied in two braids, with bangs clipped back by two light blue barrettes, and she has light green eyes. Personality Aoi is a very friendly and disciplined girl, who is rarely seen being mad or upset, in which she is calm in most situations and takes everything nicely. She is also mature, reliable and understanding, seen as she gives Kumiko advice. This is why she is also seen as a responsible girl. Background Aoi was Kumiko Oumae and Shuuichi Tsukamoto's childhood friend, two years older than them. They lived in the same neighborhood, and often played together, but grew apart as they got older. Chronology Aoi was first introduced in Hibike! Euphonium Episode 2, where she appears when Kumiko and Shuuichi were talking, and thus meeting them after a long time. Later, in Episode 7, she announces that she will be quitting the band in order to focus on her academic studies, since she is currently struggling with balancing academics and participation in the concert band. She was also partially motivated to quit because of her disappointment in her inability to prevent the schism of the previous year from transpiring. Although Aoi no longer participates in the performances of the school band during season 2, she is still willing to show her support for the band in events like buying a hard-to-get ticket to listen to their performance at the Nationals. She is also shown to remain on good terms with other band members including Kumiko Oumae and Asuka Tanaka. Relationships Kumiko Oumae Kumiko and Aoi are childhood friends that lost contact but are later reunited when Kumiko joined the concert band in Kitauji High. They are on good terms, often chatting and hanging out after school despite Aoi being two years older than her. Kumiko can openly talk to Aoi when she needs help, since she knows Aoi is a very kind person and will listen. After Aoi quit the band, they, once again, lost their contact; since the two are rarely seen to interact anymore and Kumiko was sad to find out that Aoi never really regretted leaving the band. Shuuichi Tsukamoto Shuuichi is also Aoi's childhood friend. They haven't interacted much, but they seemed to have a close relationship in the past, and they later developed a quite friendly relationship after reuniting in high school. Trivia * Aoi resembles Youko Sasaki, a side character from K-ON!, which is also animated by Kyoto Animation. * She originally wanted to go to Horiyama High School. * On her bag in the novel, she has a little "deformed yellow rabbit" charm keychain. Gallery aoi.png Tenor Sax Member.jpg ep7.jpg aoii.jpg aoikumi.jpg|Aoi and Kumiko chatting with each other aoi.jpg aoikumiko.png Aoikumi2.jpg Saxophone Section.jpg Aoi Saitou 1.PNG Category:Characters Category:Supporting Characters Category:Female Category:Saxophonists Category:Kitauji High School Category:Concert Band Members Category:Tenor Saxophonists Category:Graduates Category:Woodwind Players